Budapest Airport, Budapest Zoo, bus tours on river cruises, Gundel's Restaurant, Heroes' Square and Matthias Church, Lufthansa Premium Economy, Lugosi Gypsy Band, Sofitel Chain Bridge Budapest, Szeker Csarda

A wonderful afternoon in Budapest and then home ward bound.

June 30, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

The last day of our cruise was jam-packed with activities. Uniworld obviously wanted to make up for the low water problems by adding as many activities as could be squeezed into our last day in Budapest. Fortunately we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the Gundel Gardens restaurant after our visit to Heroes Square, which gave us time to re-charge our inner batteries.

On the way to the restaurant, I noticed a clunky little white car parked along the curb. It stood out among the sleek modern cars and I realized it was a Trabant.

The little white Trabant caught my eye, parked along the curb.

The Ramblers have an interest in automotive history and I had read about the “car that was made out of cardboard in East Germany.” Actually while the Trabant frame was made out of steel, its body was formed of a hard plastic (Duroplast) in the days before fiberglass was commonly used in cars. While it wasn’t particularly study, the Duroplast was light weight. This was a good thing because the Trabant’s tiny engine (600 cc) produced perhaps 26 hp and slowly accelerated to its maximum speed of 62 mph.

The Trabant was built in East Germany from 1957 to 1989 and in Germany from 1990-1991. The Trabi, as it was called, was a joke in the West, but a prized possession in East Germany. Those who had Trabants took good care of them as if you ordered one, it might take years to get it. The average Trabant ran for 28 years. Today they are collected by some who appreciate a low cost way to buy a collectible car. Trabi enthusiasts race them in rallies and modify them in various ways. However, the one we saw parked in Budapest didn’t seem to have been modified in any way.

Gundel’s is located in the city park, near the Budapest Zoo.

The fanciful 19th century entrance of the zoo was hard to miss.

The zoo seemed a little neglected although it has a famous history, in fact it is one of the oldest in the world, founded back in 1866. Many of its buildings seemed to be in an intriguing art noveau style. I learned later that the zoo is quite up to date, although the paint on the buildings was somewhat faded, like many others in Budapest.

I wish we could have had a chance to visit but our busses rolled right past and stopped at the door of Gundel Gardens.

The senior Rambler and his New Zealand friend enjoying a smoke break in the Gundel gardens.

Gundel’s is probably the most famous restaurant in Budapest. It was founded in 1910 by Karoly Gundel and taken over by his son in the 1930’s. Unfortunately, the Gundel family lost the restaurant when it was socialized by the communist government of Hungary in 1949. After the fall of communism, it was taken over by two Americans and restored to its former glory.

Gundel’s serves traditional Hungarian food and Hungarian wines. Would have love to have seen a menu, but Uniworld had ordered us a traditional Hungarian lunch and the famous palescinta or crepes with chocolate sauce for desert.

The wines were also Hungarian and excellent. The entree was chicken paprikasz, The food was tasty and efficiently served by waiters in traditional formal uniforms. We sat at large round tables with fellow passengers, who by this time, were our old friends. All in all, it was a very pleasant experience in a beautiful paneled dining room, and over too soon.

Pleasant lunch at Gundels, although the senior Rambler looks a little wary.

Gundel’s has a tiny gift shop where I was able to buy some equally tiny cook books as souvenirs for the cooks in our family and some Hungarian chocolates. The Rambler had finally realized she would be boarding a plane for home the next day and had bought absolutely nothing for her family and friends at home. However, our next stop was the Fisherman’s Bastion and the Matthias Church, and I knew from a previous visit that I would be able to buy some authentic Hungarian paprika there. Must be in the genes because we all enjoy chicken paprikasz and use lots of paprika. Most of the better Hungarian brands are not imported into the US, so it makes a great souvenir.

The sun had come out again when we reached our last destination, the Fisherman’s Bastion.

The fanciful towers of the Fisherman's Bastion. — The fanciful towers of the Fisherman’s Bastion.

We had stopped there the previous December on the Christmas Markets cruise. However we didn’t bother to walk onto the viewing platform as the skies were pouring down chilly rain. Today the view of both Buda and Pest with the Danube in between, was wonderful. Many consider it the best view in Budapest. Despite its medieval appearance the Bastion was built between 1899 and 1905 of white stone. Its style can only be described as a meeting of Neo-Gothic and Neo-Romanesque.

From the Fisherman's Bastion on Castle Hill, you can see a long way across the Danube and along its banks. — From the Fisherman’s Bastion on Castle Hill, you can see a long way across the Danube and along its banks.

it looks like something that might have been conjured up by Sleeping Beauty and King Arthur.

The Bastion has seven towers, representing the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian basin in 896 AD, which later became Hungary. To reach the viewing terrace from the lower level streets, you must climb a massive double staircase but if you were bussed to the top to view the Matthias Church, you need climb only a few steps. If you are wondering how this fairy tail confection got its name, it was built on the site of an old rampart dating from the middle ages.

Sweethearts enjoying the book fair at the Bastion Square.

This particular rampart was defended by the fishermen who lived in a town on the bank of the Danube.

The day we were there, a book fair had been set up in the square in front of the Bastion. The Rambler had a brief thought of buying a children’s book in Hungarian for her little grandson, however cooler heads prevailed and she later settled on a T-shirt.

We didn’t enter the Matthias Church, which is actually St. Stephens.

The magnificent tile roof of St. Stephens. It is called the Matthias Church because of its association with Matthias Corvinus a medieval Hungarian king.

You can read about it in my Christmas Markets post on Budapest. It is beautiful both inside and outside and has an amazing tiled roof, much like the Stephensdom in Vienna we had seen the day before. The Ramblers decided they surely would not like the job of replacing the tile on that roof.

As we walked back to our bus, busses were not allowed at the top of the hill, I noticed a small supermarket. Just what I was looking for. I knew they would have a variety of paprika’s and at better prices than the souvenir stores. Sure enough, they carried an extensive line of what seems to be the Hungarian national spice and I was able to chose an excellent variety for the family at home. At this point, we hadn’t even seen our hotel yet but when we got there, we wouldn’t have time for the great paprika hunt, and I was right.

In Budapest, our friends from the MT were split up among four or five hotels, all close to the Danube. Ours, the Sofitel Chain Bridge, was visible from the Fisherman’s Bastion on the Pest side of the Danube, however we didn’t realize this at the time.

View of the Chain Bridge over the Danube from the Sofitel. Two Viking ships are rafted together at the quay in front of the hotel.

As we neared the hotel, we could see a number of police vehicles and police personnel in riot gear. Fortunately they were ready to leave and we were able to check into the hotel with no problems. We later learned that there had been a protest about the Syrian refugees right in front of the hotel. Luckily we didn’t get caught up in it.

The Sofitel was also a 5 star hotel but very different from the Ritz, much more modern in decor and architecture. However, it had one thing the Ritz did not, a wonderful view of the Danube and the Chain Bridge.

The Ramblers could have just relaxed in their room and enjoyed the view but that was not an option as we would be going to a folklore dinner in about an hour. We had a strong temptation to miss it, but if we did, we wouldn’t have a chance to say good-bye to our friends from the cruise, or eat dinner. Actually the Sofitel had a fine restaurant but we ended up going to the Czarda dinner with our friends from the cruise.

Getting there was half the fun.

The rural country exterior of Szeker Csarda

We learned that the Szeker Czarda Restaurant and hall was on an island in the Danube and it was not easy to get there. We went quickly from urban to rural, and our bus driver had to carefully cross an arm of the river on a narrow old bridge. Wish I could have taken a picture, but it would have needed hopping off the bus, which wasn’t going to happen. The restaurant itself looked like a hunting lodge and its reception room was furnished as a rural Hungarian home would have looked around 1800. We were welcomed by smiling hosts who offered us a traditional shot of fruit brandy and a piece of salty cake. From there we were ushered into a large room with banquet style tables where we were served a home-style Hungarian meal accompanied by Hungarian wines.

From the beginning we were serenaded by an excellent Gypsy band and as the meal was winding down, the Honvel Dance Ensemble entertained us with traditional folk dances. The dancers were wonderful and the Ramblers were glad they had chosen the Csarda Dinner. At the end, the dancers invited some of the guests to participate, as I slunk back in my chair. Dancing has never been my forte. Not surprisingly some of our fellow passengers did step forward and at least one of the guys did very well.

Energetic dancers were always in motion.

When the performance ended, we knew it was time to head back to our hotels, but there was time to exchange hugs with many of our friends. On the bus, we realized how tired we were, and sank gratefully into our seats for the last drive to our hotel. We got a short tour of Budapest at night; it is one of the most beautifully illuminated cities in Europe.

View of Chain Bridge from our hotel room that night. Castle in distance.

When we finally got to our room it was almost 11 PM. The Ramblers debated whether to put on our jammies or just sleep in our clothes. The jammies won, but it was really hard to get up when the alarm went off at 3 AM. We had an early ride to the airport; our van was to leave at 3:45 AM.

One thing to keep in mind if you get your air fare from your cruise company, you are probably going to leave the boat early. They want to clean the ship ASAP as the next group of guests will be arriving shortly. So we with our luggage, sleepily headed for the waiting van. The Ramblers were the last to climb aboard which just shows how tired we were.

The Budapest Airport is small and this was early on Sunday morning so we were amazed to find a huge crowd already there when we arrived. As it turned out, they all wanted to leave because of the refugee situation. It was not fun to be part of a struggling mob, but Uniworld had a representative there who helped me print out our Lufthansa boarding passes. We got our bags checked and then managed to get to the back of a very long line of people waiting to get through security. The Hungarian airport personnel were overwhelmed by these unusually large numbers and for a time we wondered if we would make our connecting flight to Frankfort. Fortunately we did make it, although because of the metal I carry around, I had to endure a very unpleasant search. I have found that explaining that have had a double hip replacement makes absolutely no difference to the security people. The Senior Rambler must have looked harmless because he got right through. C’est la vie!

On the final leg of our adventure we enjoyed an uneventful flight on Lufthansa. Due to the kindness of a flight attendant, we were able to move to the Lufthansa extra comfort seats. I had tried to book them at Frankfort, but the representative was not very helpful. When we boarded we walked right past a bunch of empty extra comfort seats. As tired as we were, it was wonderful to move up for a long flight. We had bulkhead seats, and even though the same crying child was again on board, it gave up early on the return trip.

Again we were glad to see our daughter waiting after going through customs. As we didn’t have anything to declare except paprika, we walked right through with a “Welcome to Atlanta!” Another great trip for the memory bank….

Budapest, Deloitte Building, Hall of Art Kunsthalle), Heroes Square, Imre Nagy, Museum of Fine Art, Serbian Embassy, Szenchenyi Baths

Budapest!

June 14, 2016 1954 Leave a comment

Budapest has always captured my imagination since my mother told me wonderful stories about her visits there when I was little. She claimed Hungarian ancestry on one side, although my Slovak cousins don’t agree. They can’t imagine that she would claim a heritage that to them meant centuries of oppression. Yet, she did, and so I was anxious to see more of Budapest in the daylight.

I had my first glimpse of the city when we flew into Budapest for our Christmas Markets cruise in 2014. Unfortunately, our flight arrived in the late afternoon, and it was nearly dark by the time we rode from the airport to our boat, the Uniworld Beatrice. The next day was equally dark, gloomy and rainy. Although we toured the city, we certainly did not see it at its best.

Today our bus neared the outskirts of Budapest in late morning, and we saw first hand, the industrial impact of Soviet occupation in the outskirts of the city.

A rusting railroad bridge and abandoned factories aw we neared Budapest. — A rusting railroad bridge and abandoned factories as we neared Budapest.

Drab, sometimes vacant factories and buildings lined the highway on both sides of the freeway as we neared the city. This time, we wouldn’t be going to the quay to board our boat. Instead we would have a day long city tour and lunch at a famous restaurant before we got to our hotel We soon saw that Budapest had visible scars remaining from the Hungarian uprising in 1956. At first, the city looked very drab on an overcast Saturday despite a vibrant social scene with many people, both young and old on the streets.

Lots of activity at the book and music store.

Yet Budapest would not disappoint me. Its mix of ornate 19th century buildings next to modern construction, its heroic monuments and construction zones were fascinating.

One of many once fine buildings awaiting repair

It has a raffish charm, unlike that of other Eastern European capitals. As we drove through the city towards our first stop, Heroes’ Square, the Ramblers noticed many once grand buildings with boarded up windows patiently waiting to be restored, although the lower floors were obviously occupied.

We had stopped at Heroes’ Square on our Christmas Markets cruise, but it was pouring rain, and we didn’t get out of the bus. Today it was cloudy with intermittent drizzle. but I was eager to see what I had missed. The largest square in Budapest was full of people. It is a very popular destination for tourists and local residents alike. There were many other tour groups already following their guide’s upraised signs towards the statuary that had given the square its name. They had obviously disembarked from the long line of busses parked nearby.

So what is Heroes’ Square? At one end of the large paved square next to City Park is its central feature, the Millennium Memorial built in 1896. The Memorial was built to commemorate both the thousandth anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the founding of the modern Hungarian State a thousand years later. Ironically, when the monument was first proposed, Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (tho considered a separate entity). The last five statues on the left side were reserved for members of the then ruling Hapsburg dynasty including Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph. However, the monument was severely damaged in WWII and when it was rebuilt the Habsburgs were gone.

The new statues depicted earlier Hungarian rather than Hapsburg kings and leaders. The seven statues in the center depict the Magyar chieftains who led the roving bands of Hungarian people into their final home in the Carpathian basin. These statues are in no way historically realistic but rather an artistic depiction of these men. The are magnificent sculptures which tell the story of Hungary’s heroic past both mythic and historic.

To the Ramblers, the square recalls the more recent past as the place where 200,000 or so Hungarians assembled in 1989 for the funeral of Imre Nagy, who had been summarily executed by the communist government of Hungary in 1958.

The Serbian Embassy, too bad the flag is furled in photo. Memorial plaque in front of the building. He Nagy stayed before his arrest.

Nagy, though a communist, wanted to move Hungary out of the Soviet sphere. His attempt triggered the Revolution of 1956 which ended very badly for the Hungarians and Nagy. ( He had been buried upside down in an unmarked grave with his wrists and ankles chained, but was re-interred with honor in the Budapest Public cemetery in 1989. Facing the square is the Serbian Embassy where Nagy fled when the revolution failed.

in addition, in back of the cenotaph which is surrounded by a decorative chain a plaque marks the site of an artesian well drilled in 1878. The well still provides water for the famous Szechenyi Baths at the back of the monument as well as the Dagaly Baths.

The Szechenyi Baths are right next to the square, the domed building in the center of the picture is part of the bath complex.

This is a very deep well which taps into one of the hundreds of thermal springs which were formed eons ago deep underneath Hungarian soil. The original artesian well pumped out 831 liters of water at 74 degrees Centigrade (165 degrees Fahrenheit) while the new well, drilled in 1938 produces water at 77 Centigrade (171 degrees Fahrenheit). Needless to say, the water temperature has cooled down by the time it reaches the many swimming pools of the baths.

Here is a link to the more modern Dagaly Baths which also gets its water from thermal springs under the square. There are more than 50 spas in Budapest alone, as more than 70% of Hungarian territory is blessed with underground thermal springs. Sadly we did not have a chance to visit even one of these famous spas while we were in Budapest.

http://en.dagalyfurdo.hu/

Heroes’ Square also holds two of the cities’ most important museums, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Hall of Art or Kunsthalle Budapest. Both buildings were erected around the turn of the century in similar yet strikingly different styles. They both have elements of Greek Temple in their design, popular with museum architects at the turn of the last century but one is gleaming white, while the other is built of tan bricks with a more Byzantine style of decoration.

The Museum of Fine Arts was built in the neoclassical style and opened in 1906.

Note the benches on the steps of the Museum of Fine Art.

It contains an eclectic collection of international art, excluding Hungarian. Its galleries are devoted to Egyptian, Antique, Old Sculpture, Old Masters paintings and a Modern collection. The more than 100 year old Museum was closed for renovation in 2015 and is expected to re-open in 2018. Interestingly there were people walking up and down the steps when we were there. I am not sure why. In addition, several brightly colored benches had been placed on the steps. I am not sure why but you can see them in the photo. If anyone who reads this knows the answer, let me know. I couldn’t find one on the internet

The Hall of Art on the other hand was doing a brisk business.

A glimpse of the details on the Hall of arts on a busy afternoon.

It is slightly older than the Museum of Fine Art having been opened in 1895.

The Hall of Art or Kunsthalle contains contemporary rather than classical art. In fact, its mission is to display works that illustrate the latest trends in art and photography both Hungarian and international.

As our bus was leaving the square, an incongruous modern building caught my eye. It really stood out among its 19th century brethren.

The very non-traditional Deloitte building, which has one several architectural rewards. It looks like it is leaning but the image is not tilted.

I later learned that the extremely modern Deloitte Building, flanked by two 19th century baroque structures, opened in 2008 as the headquarters for ING. It has been praised by architects but the Rambler is not sure about it. What do you think?

More on our Budapest adventures next time.

Austria, Capuchin Church, Changing currency, Kaisergruft, Pestsäule, Refugees at the border

From Vienna to Budapest, and Refugees at the Border

June 1, 2016 1954 1 Comment

On our way back to the bus after our city tour, I glimpsed what looked like an amazing group of statuary around a column visible at the end of a narrow street. As we drew closer, its details became more distinct. The figures surrounding the column were amazing; angels and saints near the top where dwelled the Trinity while at the bottom, piteous figures held out their hands. The Ramblers learned that this was the famous Pestsäule, or Plague Column that was built in the 17th century to commemorate both the end of the Great Plague, and the impact it had on Vienna.

Amazing sculpture around column and of course, gilding at the top.

The plague came late to Vienna. The Black Death, as it was called, had already resulted in the deaths of millions of Europeans, depopulating whole areas of Europe, beginning in the 14th century. This feared “Black Death” was carried by migrant black rats who lived in the filthy conditions of cities without sewers and garbage collection Vienna, in 1679, was just as filthy as any other city of the time, perhaps more so. Although the plague was still deadly, 200 years later, religious men and women who ran most of the hospitals at the time, had learned a little about the disease. The Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, a Catholic religious order, created special hospitals to care for plague victims. The simple nursing care they provided was far better than any other Viennese medical facilities of the time, Thus the Viennese plague was not as deadly as it could have been. The 69 ft. high Pestsäule was built to commemorate those who died and those who worked to save plague victims.

We saw yet another uniquely Viennese building on the way back to the bus.

Was not sure just what this building was at first, a church bu also a burial place.

This was the Kaisergruft or the Imperial Crypt. In this modest Capuchin Church dedicated in 1633, lie the bones of 145 members of Hapsburg royalty along with a few urns containing ashes and hearts of others.

The Austrian flags tell you this is not just an ordinary church.

The Capuchin friars still care for the crypt which is open to the public. FYI The Capuchin’s got their name from the hood which is part of their brown Franciscan habit. The latest Hapsburg family member was entombed in 2011. Needless to say, this is just the kind of weird exhibit that would intrigue the Rambler, but it was not to be. The Kaisergruft was not on our schedule. It became just one of the many fascinating spots in Vienna we had no time to explore.

Dinner that night would be on our own, and we decided to go back to the Cafe Schwarzenberg. We had enjoyed the atmosphere, it was close and the food was tasty. However, before eating, the Ramblers wanted to change some of their Euros into Forints. We would be traveling to Budapest by bus tomorrow, and our schedule seemed a busy one. Might as well take advantage of some free time to visit a bank. First we checked with the Ritz concierge, but we learned they did not exchange currency in the hotel. She suggested visiting the Bank of Austria which had a branch nearby. So we did, only to find that the Bank of Austria had no Forints to exchange. To complicate matters, it was Friday afternoon and many banks had closed early. Fortunately, we found another bank that was open, don’t remember its name, but they had lots of Forints and were happy to make the exchange.

Walking back to the Ritz after finding our Forints.

Mission accomplished, we enjoyed an early dinner in the delightful wood-paneled cafe which first opened in 1861. It is considered a concert cafe, as a musician plays the grand piano prominently displayed in the middle of the cafe in the evenings. We were too early for the music, but I would be going to another kind of concert later that evening. The senior Rambler took a pass, as he is not a fan of concerts of any kind.

Several river cruise lines including Uniworld offer a chamber music concert for their passengers on the evening their boats are docked in Vienna. On the Christmas Markets cruise, the concert was one of the included tours, however on European Jewels, it was an option. I had decided not to attend, since I had gone to the Christmas one, and it was fairly expensive, 75 Euros. Uniworld changed my mind for me. Because we had to leave the Maria Theresa due to low water, they made the concert to an included event. I was only too happy to take advantage of this special option. It is really a treat to hear a chamber orchestra of talented musicians play in a small hall with excellent acoustics. The program was, as before composed of Mozart and Strauss music performed with much skill and enthusiasm by less than a dozen fine musicians. Uniworld has a contract with Waltz in Vienna which provides these programs which include musicians and dancers for a number of occasions.

This place is a photographer's nightmare. The lights reflect off the beautiful paneling But you get the idea. The photos in their brochure are not much better. — This place is a photographer’s nightmare. The lights reflect off the beautiful paneling But you get the idea. The photos in their brochure are not much better.

. The concerts are held in the beautiful 19th century hall of the Austrian Engineers and Architects which was recently renovated and has wonderful acoustics in an intimate setting. It isn’t often that one gets to attend a private concert and it was a fitting end to our stay in Vienna. Of course, the final encore was a stirring rendition of the Radetsky March, which is traditionally played at the end of classical music concerts in Vienna and involves much clapping to the stirring march.

Back at the Ritz, the Ramblers packed their bags, since we would be leaving early the next morning for Budapest. Unfortunately we would be able to spend only a long Saturday in Budapest as we had to be at the Budapest Airport at 4 AM Sunday morning. All along we had been hearing news stories about the Syrian refugees who were trying to get into Austria but didn’t realize that we would tangentially get caught up in this unfortunate situation.

After breakfast, we boarded our busses and headed out for Budapest. We had little time to hang out with our friends from the cruise as we were going to be staying at different hotels once we got to Budapest. Although the Hungarian capital has many excellent hotels, none was able to take in so many people at such short notice. The Ramblers were staying at the Sofitel Chain Bridge, which seemed to be an excellent location. However we wouldn’t get there until much later in the day.

Since Austria and Hungary are both members of the European Union, there would be no check when we reached the border. However, when we got there, we were startled by what we saw on the highway going towards Austria.

There was a lot going on, but I was on the wrong side of the bus this time. You can see the traffic backed up tho and the truck driver staring wistfully at us.

There was a gigantic back-up of cars, trucks and busses, and dozens of people milling about. We learned that the police were checking the credentials of everyone trying to cross the border on the interstate-like highway. They had brought in extra personnel, but they were not having much success in keeping the traffic moving. The Ramblers could see busses from other cruise and tour lines caught up in the mess on the other side of the road, along with other busses which seemed to be filled with refugees. Our bus did not stop and we were able to move along quickly. I would have liked to take some photos of this historic event but unfortunately I was sitting on the curb side, not the street side.

After trying a shot or two, I decided to give up the attempt and just observe history in the making. We later saw a number of groups of refugees, mostly young men, marching along towards the border for miles after we crossed it. The traffic jam extended for miles as well.

There were several people who probably got good photos but none I knew well enough to ask if they would send them to me. I did, however, get a picture of the Hungarian rest area where we stopped briefly.

The McDonald's, Neat and nicely landscaped and not very crowded. — The McDonald’s, Neat and nicely landscaped and not very crowded.

It featured a McDonald’s’ and you can be sure some of our bunch stopped for a snack.

On to Budapest!

Georgia Rambler

Monthly Archives: June 2016

A wonderful afternoon in Budapest and then home ward bound.

Budapest!

From Vienna to Budapest, and Refugees at the Border

Ramble the world with us